"Hello? Are you in there?" Dawn's voice snapped AJ back to reality.
He looked over at her, then, down at his legs, he was still sitting.
‘Whew,’ he thought to himself. ‘It's not the right time. I want it to be perfect. I'll just stick with my original plan’.
"I was just admiring your beauty,” he said to her as she rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water.
He continued to watch her. He wanted to propose to her so badly. He had been trying to find the perfect moment for some time now. It just seemed that every time he thought it was the right moment, he got nervous and chickened out. He didn't want to scare her or make her feel as though he was moving too fast. Everything had been so perfect between them ever since she made the decision to move in with him.
"I have a surprise for you,” he announced.
Dawn looked at him, shocked.
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you,” he replied, rising from the table. "But we have to go for a little ride".
Dawn gave him a puzzled look as she got up from the table and put her shoes on. AJ got his car keys and they headed to the car.
After about five minutes of watching all the palm trees she could possibly stand pass by them as they drove, Dawn spoke up.
"So, when are you gonna tell me what the surprise is?" She asked, looking over at AJ.
She did recognize the area they were in. They had gone to see a house there a couple weeks earlier. They both loved the house. It was absolutely perfect. The only problem was, when they went to put a bid in on it, they were told that someone else had already put in a bid on it and the sale was pending. Dawn got mad just thinking about it.
"Remember that house you fell in love with that was sold to that other couple?" He asked.
It made Dawn's stomach turn just thinking about it.
"Yeah...why?"
"Well, as it turns out, I know the people who bought the house".
"And?" She asked.
"They're out of town and they asked me to keep an eye on things for them while they were gone,” he lied.
Dawn looked over at him wanting to smack him right in the head. Didn't he know how much she loved this house?? Sure, there were other houses, but this one had everything they were looking for. It was perfect.
"THIS is my surprise?" She asked as they stopped in front of the house. “Are you serious??”
AJ couldn't look at her, he would start to laugh. He got out of the car.
‘This is gonna be pure torture’, she thought to herself as AJ opened her car door an she got out.
They walked up to the front door and AJ reached in his pocket, pulling out keys.
"Damn, you must know these people really well,” she commented.
He opened the door and they walked in.
"Do you think they'd mind if I walked around and wept all over their furniture?" She joked.
"Go ahead,” AJ chuckled from another room.
Dawn walked around longingly looking at each room in the house. She could just picture her and AJ living there. She found herself picturing exactly what they would use for each room. She stopped when she got to the room that she pictured as the baby's. She was so deep in thought she hadn't noticed AJ walk up behind her.
"What are you doing beautiful?" He asked her.
"Couldn't you just picture this being the baby's room?" She asked, not even looking at him.
AJ smiled.
"Come here. It's time for your surprise".
He took her by the hand and led her downstairs. As they approached the living room, Dawn noticed all the lights turned off, but there was still a dim light coming from the living room.
‘I hope he doesn't think he's gonna romance me in someone else's house’, she thought to herself.
She was shocked when they turned the corner and there were candles all over the living room. As she looked closely, she also noticed rose petals all over the floor.
"Alex, what the hell are you doing? I don't think your friends would appreciate th..", she said, but AJ put his finger to her lips to quiet her.
"I have something for you,” he said, handing her a small box. Dawn looked at him puzzled. "Open it".
She slowly opened it, inside were a set of keys.
"What are these for?" She asked, thoroughly confused.
He took the keys from her.
"Well,” he began, "this one is for the front door, this one is for the guest house, this one is..."
"Oh my god!" Dawn cut him off. "You mean, to this house?" She asked, shocked.
"Yep, this is all ours,” he said, looking around.
Dawn was so shocked, she didn't know what to say. All she could do was stand there looking at AJ in amazement. She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"You are absolutely amazing".
"YOU make me amazing....you're the best part of me,” he said softly.
"Stop, you're gonna make me cry,” she said, burying her face in his neck.
"Well then, my next surprise is really gonna get you,” he said, reaching in his pocket.
"Another one??" Dawn exclaimed. "You are too much!"
"I've been trying to do this for such a long time now, but I could never find the right moment,” he began as he knelt down in front of her.
Dawn looked down at him, she couldn't believe what was happening. She was so overwhelmed. She cupped her hand over her mouth in utter disbelief while she stared down at him. He opened the box, revealing the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen. "Ever since you've come back into my life, I haven't been able to think about anything else but you. You have changed my life in ways I never thought possible. You are my heart and my soul. I can't imagine life without you and I don't ever want to. I don't want to be with anyone else, ever. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be the one that makes you happy in this life and the next," he paused as he looked up at her with tears in his eyes, his hands trembling. "Will you marry me?"
He was so terrified she was going to say no. Dawn looked down at him with tears streaming down her face, her hand still cupped over her mouth. She was in shock, she was shaking. She couldn't even get any words out, all she could do was cry. She just shook her head and choked out.
"Yes, I'll marry you Alex,” and he placed the ring on her trembling finger.
He stood up and took her in his arms. They were both crying.
"I love you so much,” he whispered in her ear.
"I love you too,” she cried as she kissed him passionately on the lips.

Chapter 39
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